Racking device in circular automatic knitting-machines.



W. A. INGALLS.

BACKING DEVICE IN CIHCULARAUTOMATIC KNITTING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5. 1914.

1 ,1 3,3@%. Patented May 16, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET l- 1 F I Wm) I I] IHII of v9 Z/Z/iznsssas:

w H5 @QQWZZW W. A. IN GALLS.

RACKING DEVICE IN'CIRCULAR'AUTOMATIC KNITTING MACHINES.

'APPLICAT'IION FILED FEB. 5. I914- ll 1 83,39. Patented May 16, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

5'22725555: IRA/52714571? W. A. INGALLS.

RACKING DEVICE IN CIRCULAR AUTOMATIC KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5. I914.

1,1833%. Patented Maylfi, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- Y/Zzlsss:

, I WM a. NA a. $24M 7 WILLIS A. INGALLS, F CLEVELAND,,OHIO.

BACKING DEVICE IN CIRCULAR- AUTOMATIC KNITTING-MAG 3:5 HES.

Specificatiters Patent. te m a s! m 1 jam,

Application filed February 5, 1914. Serial Ito. 815,674.

To all whom it may concern 'Be it known that I, \VILLIs A. INGALLS,

"a subject of George the Fifth, King of England, residing in Cleveland, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Racking Devices in Circular Automatic Knitting-Machines, of which the following, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use it.

'It is. well understood that the operation known in knitting as racking is performed by causing a part of the needles of the needle plate or needle cylinder to be drawn from their normal position to the opposite side of the corresponding needles of the needle cylinder or needle plate.

This invention relates particularly to means for racking the needles of the needle cylinder as distinguished from machines in which the needles of the needle dial or needle plate are racked and it consists of one or more segments of a needle guide in the form of a section of auxiliary needle cylinder fitted into the needle cylinder immediately above the grooved or slotted portion of the cylinder and adapted to be.

moved forward and back a sufficient distance to rack the needles, and of means for shifting said segment of needle guide forward and back as hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation showing the needle plate, cam plate, needle cylinder and cam cylinder and a part of the mechanismfor racking the segment of the auxiliary Fig. 2 is a plan view on line X, X, Fig. 1 showing additional parts of racking mechanism. Figs. 3, 4 and 5 show detail of the racking mechanism. Fig. 6 is a plan view with part of needle plate removed and Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the chain bracket for stopping and starting the racking device.

A is the needle plate and B the cam plate. C is the central shaft of the machine and i D is the usual bracket or arm secured at its F is the cam cylinder mounted on the shaft C, and G, the needle cylinder resting on the upper surface of the flange E. t

H and H are sections of the auxiliary needle cylinder, both being mounted in the upper inner side of the needle cylinder G. The ring l[ is mounted on the inside of the upper end of the auxiliary cylinder. 1mmediately below the ring I and forming integral parts of the segments H and H of the auxiliary cylinder are sections of an annular ring 71. with slots or grooves 72. (Fig. 6) adapted to receive the upper ends of the needles g. In the side of thecylinder F are provided slots k 71?, (Fig. 4) adapted to permit the passage of the screws h, 72. the purpose of said screws being to attach the yoke piece It to the segment H of the auxiliary needle cylinder, the slots h being of sufficient length to permit the desired movement of the segment H The lower end of the yoke piece is adapted to engage the upper end of the rocker arm P. arm P is mounted on the rocker shaft M, the latter being in turn mounted in the bearings O, 0, attached to the flange E. Mounted on and rigidly attached to the shaft M preferably between the bearings O, O, is an arm N. Immediately below the arm N and resting upon the flange E is a sliding plate L provided with slots Z Z and guide pins Z P, the latter being secured to the flange E. On the upper side of the sliding plate I provide the wedge shaped surface Z, Z, the inclined surface extending upward from the upper surface of the plate L except for a short distance at the outer end of each where the surface of the elevated portion is level. ends of the arm N are provided with slots 72. n extending inward to a point beyond the screws n, n, which are screwed into each end of the arm, and by tightening the screws n M, the screws n, n, may be locked in the desired position. The movement of the rocker arm P is caused by sliding the plate 1L so as to bring the inclined surfaces of the wedges l, l, in contact with bottoms of the The The outer necting rod in and screw 7' On the upper surface of the cam J is adog K pivotally attached near .its center to the cam J by the pin if. The rear end of the dog has a head K while in the opposite end is secured (Fig. 3) a pin 70 passing downward through the slot j in the cam J and projecting below the under surface of the cam J a' sufficient distance to engage the yoke of the pin This last mentioned pin pro ect's into an oscillating tube or cylinder 9' secured to the under surface of the cam by the screw 7'. A small coil spring is inserted in the cylinder 7' behind the pin 9' to force the latter outward. The radius of the slot j is greater than the distance from the center of the pin k to the center of the screw j? and the pressure of the spring will therefore tend to hold the pin 70 at either end of the slot j, and hold the dog K in the position to which it has last been driven as hereinafter set forth.

Mounted in the upper surface of the cam cylinder between the hub and the outer rim thereof, is a hearing or support for the rod Q (Fig. 1) the latter being fitted into the support and ada ted to project downward and at each revo ution of the cam cylinder to engage the sides of the dog K. The upper end of the rod Q is attached to the bell v crank Q mounted in the bracket F The upper arm of the bell crank is attached to the toggle Q and the latter is connected by the rod Q to the lever B. The lever R is pivotally mounted on the up er surface of the cam plate by the screw 1' Figs. 1 and 6) I a sufiicient distance above the surface of the cam plate to permit attaching the lever B between the lower side of the lever B and the upper side of the cam plate. The lever B is attached at its center by the screw 0" to the cam plate, and by the pin 7' to the arm R and when it isdesired to throw the racking mechanism out of operation. the cam or roller A 1s placed in position to engage the lever R To automatically control the position of the roller A I employ the usual form of chain bracket apparatus in which the hanger S (Fig. 7) is attached to the lower side of the needle plate A, the bearing T being in like manner fastened to' the lower side of the needle plate. The bell crank U is pivoted at t, the end u of its lower arm engaging the links of the bracket chain'W mounted on the sprocket wheel W on the shaft V. By controlling the revolution of the shaft V and inserting the desired number of enlarged links as shown at W the bell crank U through its points a, 'u will raise the supporting spindle and through it the collar A to the required position and as frequently as desired as is 'Well understood by persons conversant with knittingmachines.

I have here shown and described a single movable section of auxiliary needle cylinder but it is apparent that there may be movable sections and racking mechanism such as is here shown for each thread being fed into the machine the number being limited only by the space available in the machine. When the racking device is not in operation the roller or cam A is placed in position to form contact with the lever B thereby raising the rod Q out of contact with the dog K of the cam J. To throw the racking mechanism into operation the roller A is by means of the bracket chain, placed'in position to engage the end of the lever B and through the operation of the connecting rod Q and bell crank Q the rod Q is forced downward so that its lower end will engage the sides of the dogs K. As the cam cylinder carrying the rod Q revolves, the lower end of the rod Q (taking it in the position shown in Fig. 2) comes in contact with the outer surface of the dog K forcing the head of the latter inward and carrying with it the free end of the cam J and through the connecting rod K sliding the plate L in the direction of the motion of the rod Q to the position shown by the dotted lines. When the rod Q shall have passed the center of the pin it will no longer force the end of the cam J inw rd, but by engaging the head-K of the dog will force the opposite end of the dog and the pin 70 in theopposite direction as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, thereby placing the dog in position to receive the contact ofthe rod Q against its inner side at the next revolution of the rod. On said next revolution the lower end of the rod Q.

will engage the inner surface of the dog K and force the latter and with it the cam J outward and also carrying with it through the connecting rod the sliding plate L returning the latter'to the position shown in Fig. 2. After passing the center of pin k the rod Q will again engage'the head K of the dog forcing the opposite end, and carrying the pin K again into the position shown in Fig. 2 and leaving it in such position'that its outer surface will again come in contact with the lower end of the rod Q at its next revoliition. The sliding to and :1

fro of the plate L will alternately force one of the wedges Z, Z, under the adjustable screws n, n, in the end of the lever N, and thereby through the shaft M, rock the arm P forward and back (Fig. 4). The flat surface at the larger ends'of the wedges Z, Z,

are designed to prevent pressure on the lever P from moving the plate L. The move ment of the arm P, through the yoke piece h and the screws If, it, will shift' the segment the annular ring 72. and slots it. When the .ternate revolution of' the machine.

arm P is in the position shown in Fig. 4 the segment has been shifted to the left causing the opening H shown in Fig. 6, while the opposite end of the segment will be in contact with the segment H as shown at H in the same figure. When the lever is thrown in the opposite direction the opening will be at H and the parts of the auxiliary cylinder will come together at H \Vhen the position of the movable segment H of the auxiliary cylinder is in the position shown in Fig. 6, the needles engaged by it are shifted to the right as shown in Fig. 1 and in forming the stitch each will rise to the right of the needle which before the racking was upon its right hand side. Upon the next succeeding revolution the segment H will have been shifted back in the opposite direction and the needles engaged by it will again stand vertically and form the stitch in the same position as before racking; the same change occurring at each :11-

T 1e shifting of the segment and consequent opening and closing of the space between the two parts of the auxiliary cylinder requires the insertion of the ring-I which prevents the fabric coming in contact with the upper edge of the auxiliary cylinder segment. It

, is apparent that it' is unnecessary that this ring should continue around the entire sur face of the cylinder and that a small section of the ring placed in the proper position to prevent the fabric falling between the segments would answer the purpose, but 1 prefer to insert the entire ring as-being easier to make and because it presents an unbroken surface to the fabric.

movable within the needle cylinder, a rocker Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A racking device for knitting machines consisting of the combination with the needle plate, the needles in said needle plate, cams and cam plate for operating said needles, the needle cylinder suitably mounted on a central shaft, the needles in said needle cylinder and the cam cylinder and cams for operating said needles, of an auxiliary needle cylinder comprising independent segments within said needle cylinder and pro vided with guides for the upper ends of the needles of the needle cylinder, one of said segments of auxiliary needle cylinder being arm suitably mounted in said machine and attached to the movable segment of auxiliary needle cylinder, a cam mounted below the needle cylinder and having one of its ends pivotally attached to the machine and its oppositeend attached .to means for rocking said rocker arm. and means for moving said cam inward and outward whereby the said rocker arm and said segment of auxiliary central shaft, the needles in said needle cylinder and the cam cylinder and cams for operating said needles, of an auxiliary needle' cylinder comprising independent segments within said needle cylinder and provided with guides for the upper ends of the needles of the needle cylinder, one of said segments of auxiliary needle cylinder being movable within the needle cylinder, a rocker arm suitably mounted in said machine and attached to the movable segment of auxiliary needle cylinder, a cam mounted below the needle cylinder and having one of its ends pivotally attached to the machine and its opposite end attached to means for rocking said rocker arm, a rod projecting downward from the cam cylinder and adapted to engage alternately the inner side and the outer side of, said cam and move the free end thereof away from and toward the center of the machine and thereby, through the con nection between the cam and said movable segment of auxiliary needle cylinder, force the latter forward and back, substantially as and for. the purpose specified.

3. A racking device for knitting machines consisting of the combination with the needle plate, needles in said needle plate, cams and a cam plate for operating said needles, the needle cylinder suitably mounted on a central shaft, the needles in said needle cylinder and the cam cylinder and cams for operating said needles, of an auxiliary needle cylinder comprising independent segments within said needle cylinder and provided with guides for the upper ends of the needles of the needle cylinder, one of said segments of auxiliary needle cylinder being movable within the needle cylinder, a rocker arm suitably mounted in said machine and attached to the movable segment of auxiliary needle cylinder, a cam mounted below the needle cylinder and having one of its ends pivotally attached to the machine and its free end attached to means for rocking said rocker arm, a rod projecting downward from the cam cylinder and adapted to engage alternately the inner side and the outer side of }tion therewith to move said movable segment of auxiliary cylinder forward and back and means for lowering and raising'said rod into and out of contact with the dog of i said cam substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. A racking device for knitting machines consisting of the combination with the needle plate, needles in said needle plate, cams and a cam plate for operating said needles,

5 the needle cylinder suitably mounted on a central shaft, the needles in said needlecylinder and the cam cylinder and cams for operating said needles, of an auxiliary needle cylinder formed in segments within said needle cylinder and provided with guides for the upper ends of the needles ofthe nee dle cylinder, one of said segments of auxiliary needle cylinder being movable within the needle cylinder, a rocker arm and shaft tached to the movable segment of auxiliary needle cylinder, acam, one end of which is pivotally attached to the machine and the opposite end of which is attached to a sliding plate provided with wedge shaped surface adapted to engage the ends of a. levermounted on said rocker shaft, a dog mounted on said cam and provided at its rear end with an enlarged head for shifting the formachine, a rod projecting downward from the cam cylinder and adapted to engage alternately the inner side and the outer side of'said do and move the free end of the cam away rom and toward the center of the machine and thereby, through the connection between the cam and said segment of auxiliary needle cylinder, to force the lat ter forward and back substantially as and for the purpose specified/ v 5. A racking device for lmitting machines consisting of-the combination with the needle plate, needles in said needle plate, cams 'and a cam plate for operating said nee-' suitably mounted in said machine and at--' ward end-thereof at each revolution of the 'ward the center of the machine, and through dles, the needle cylinder suitably mounted on acentral shaft, the needles in said needle cylinder and the cam cylinder and cams for operating said needles, of an auxiliary needle cylinder formed in segments within said needle cylinder and provided with guides for the upper ends of the needles of the needle cylinder, one of said segments of auxiliary needle cylinder being movable within the needle cylinder, a rocker arm suitably mounted in-said machine and attached to the movable segment of auxiliary needle cylinder, a cam, one end of which is pivotally attached to the machine and its free end attached to a sliding plate provided with wedge shaped surfaces adapted to engage the ends of a lever mounted on said rocker shaft, a dog mounted on'said cam and provided at its rear end with an enlar ed head for shifting the forward end thereo at each revolution of the machine, a rod. projecting downward from the cam cylinder and adapted to engagealternately the inner side and the outer side of said dog and move the free end of the cam away from and toary, 1914.

* WILLIS A. INGALLS. In the presence of- ALFRED CLUM, E. A. PETERS. 

